The Real Life Sherlock Holmes Case
by Jasmin Kenobi
Summary: *Spoilers for After the Fall and Pain Management in New Frontier* When the Romulan Praetor invites you to a peace conference, you're bound to be suspicious, just as Captain Picard is. When he discovers a buried plot that goes back 200 years to destroy the Romulan fleet from within, his instincts tell him to back off. But he doesn't. *OC in characters is Soleta, they don't list her*
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Well, I guess we're going to the Romulan Neutral Zone. There, we'll get a ride from a warbird to Romulus, where we get to negotiate an agreement with Praetor Hiren," Captain Jean-Luc Picard explained to his questioning crewmates.

Will Riker spluttered in shock and Deanna Troi simply stared at him. Beverly Crusher was suddenly very interested in her systems check on the shuttle. Geordi LaForge and Worf exchanged a worried glance. Data just observed all of their reactions.

"I do not understand," the android officer said, "Why do many life forms express surprise when hearing that they will be performing a ground-breaking action?"

"When dealing with the Romulans, many express distrust or surprise when they've been invited by the Praetor himself," Picard answered with a smile.

Now he had the full attentions of everyone.

"We were invited," Worf stated simply.

"I find that kinda hard to believe," LaForge added.

Crusher's head snapped around to the sensor panel when it beeped.

"There's a ship decloaking in front of us!" she warned. Two seconds later, they were staring at a Romulan warbird.

"In fact, there's our ride now!" Picard said with mock-cheerfulness.

The warbird tractored the small shuttle into its shuttle bay, where a small delegation waited.

"Hello, Captain Picard. It's quite a surprise to see you again," Commander Bochra greeted them, "This is my first officer, Subcommander Selta."

"Hello," Picard replied, "This is Commander Riker, Doctor Crusher, Lieutenant Commanders LaForge, Data, and Worf; and Counselor Troi."

"It's nice to meet all of you. Subcommander Selta will show you to your quarters for the duration of the trip to Romulus."

With that, Bochra left and the lithe dark-haired first officer led them silently to their rooms.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

When they arrived on Romulus, they were instantly greeted by a familiar blonde-haired scientist.

"Hello, all of you!" Doctor Talia Marcus said with a large smile that almost rivaled the Denobulans.

"Hello, Doctor," Riker said.

"Well come on then! I've got a groundcar and you've got a need for a place to stay," she said, "So get in!"

They walked quickly to a large gray groundcar. Bochra was already in the driver's seat, much to their surprise.

Talia scowled, "I thought I was going to drive."

"You took too long," Bochra replied easily, "So, I guess I'm driving."

"Fine," Talia replied, sliding into the passenger's seat. The Starfleet officers crammed into the back seat that was really only meant to fit six. Deanna ended up on Riker's lap, much to the amusement of the others. Riker just blushed and dealt with it.

The short drive to a rather modest estate was talkative and excited. Bochra and Geordi struck up a conversation almost instantly. Beverly, Deanna, Data, and Talia had a rather enlightening conversation about some medical technique or another.

Meanwhile, Will and Worf joined Picard in silence. At one point, Deanna dragged Picard into their conversation, leaving Worf and Will to a quiet conversation about bat'leth contests.

When they arrived at the estate, Talia had Bochra stop the car so she could get out and talk to someone who had just walked by.

"Well, here we are!" Bochra said as they all got out of the car, "Home sweet home."

"It's nice. Wait, is that a Vulcan rock garden?" Deanna noticed a small patch of elegantly arranged rocks hidden by some trees.

"It's Mom's. One of the many bits of Vulcan hidden around here," the Romulan soldier explained. Talia jogged back up to rejoin them as they were walking into the house.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

Later, as they were all playing poker, the sound of loud arguing nearby startled them.

Talia just sighed, "Ladies and gentlemen, here's Round Three."

Bochra snorted as he pushed a small pile of chips into the pot, "Will they ever learn to shut up?"

"No," Talia replied sardonically, "They won't. Volskiar must really want to throttle them about now. I'm pretty sure this half of the street would cheer him on."

"Who the hell is arguing over there?" Riker asked, looking up from his cards, "Oh, fold."

"Donatra and Sela. They may be siblings, but Elements, they argue too damned much," Bochra answered as he also folded.

Talia looked up when an old clock chimed.

"Okay, so there are some rules here," she said, "No one goes in or out after dark, no exceptions. During the day, carry visible weapons and travel in groups. Ladies, have a guy nearby. This goes for all of you. The reasons are simple: There have been dozens of attacks lately around here and these are mandatory safety precautions."

Beverly's eyes widened as she set her cards on the table, "Stats?"

Talia grimaced, "I'll tell you later. I don't want to upset any of you."

Bochra sighed, "There have been over 2,000 total attacks planet wide. Out of those, there are 327 rape cases, 641 people hospitalized, and 49 dead. There are also two missing people."

"Merde," Picard whispered.

A shout suddenly came from outside in the street, "Lights out!"

"Hit that switch over there," Bochra said, pointing to a switch positioned in a discreet place on the wall behind Worf, who reached back and flipped it. A shield fizzed into place around the estate and lock clicked on all the doors and windows.

"Nice system," Riker commented.

Bochra smiled, "This street is a 'military lane', meaning almost everyone here is in military service. There's a family of engineers a few doors down that rigged this system for the entire street."

Geordi suddenly noticed that there were some people missing from the table.

"Where did the ladies and Data go?"

"Probably the basement. Talia has a lab down there," Bochra explained to his friend, "I don't know how she convinced Mom and Dad to let her build it."

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"What!?"

"Talia, General Volskiar's at the door."

Thump. Shuffle. Sounds of running.

That was Picard's wake-up call at 0430 hours as the sun was just coming up. Wonderful.

Talia stared at Volskiar. The older man looked worried.

"Have you seen my daughter, Doctor?" he asked, his impatience showing.

"No sir, not this morning. She walked by last night, but that was the last time I saw her. It was about five minutes before dark," Talia replied.

He deflated slightly, "Thank you, Doctor. Tell your father I send my greetings."

"Of course, General. I hope you find her. Jolan'tru."

"Jolan'tru," he said before he left.

As soon as he was out the door, Bochra's face went pale and Talia looked sick.

"What is it?" Deanna asked, a cup of raktajino in her hands.

"Sela's missing. I think the kidnappers might have gotten her," Talia explained.

"Why?" Beverly jumped in, a forkful of pastry halfway to her mouth.

"They only take women for some sick reason. The other two are both officers in the Fleet who use their beauty to their advantage," Talia said.

"Like Sela," Bochra cut in.

"Exactly," Talia agreed.

"Shit," Riker summed it up, "Well, I think I'll take a walk today. How about some company. I'd like to get a feel for the area."

"Wear something other than your uniforms and keep knives or distruptors in plain view. That way, you'll blend in with everyone else, so long as no one looks too closely," Bochra advised, "Oh, and Talia, you may want to do some relocating. Mom and Dad get home today. Mom's shuttle gets in at 1130 hours and Dad will probably be held up in some meeting until about 1900 hours."

"Got it. Um, since Mom will be home, the food will be mostly vegetarian. We only eat meat when she's gone," Talia explained, "Mostly because she cooks when she's home."

"Or I do," Bochra retorted.

"Do you not like to cook?" Data asked Talia.

Bochra laughed, "See that black stain on the ceiling above the counter? Talia did that about a year ago. She's banned from cooking, as is Dad. He tried to kill all of us when I was twelve."

"Yeah, that was pretty bad. Just don't bring that up in front of him. He'll blame it on rotten food that was never cleaned out," Talia whispered conspiratorially.

"Well it could have been," Geordi said.

"Um, Mom's a Vulcan. That would never happen!" Talia laughed.

Picard smiled, "I was about to say the exact same thing."

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Riker asked, confused.

"Yes!" came the chorus from almost everybody else. Riker, Worf, and Data shared very confused looks.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

When Deanna opened the bathroom door, she was expecting to see Beverly Crusher. Much to her surprise, there was a pair of Romulan teenagers standing there. They both flushed green.

"Sorry!" the shorter one squeaked, "Um, we're supposed to show your group around."

Will appeared behind them, "Sounds like a plan!"

Both jumped and spun around.

"Don't do that!" the first one snapped, then she apologized, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Will replied, "I'm not an empath and I can tell that everyone on this planet is jumpy right now."

Beverly peered out of the next room, "Good, you're all here. We're taking Data too. Thought I'd let you know. Hello, girls."

"Hi!" they chorused before the one who snapped at Will introduced them, "I'm Teya and this is Ayani. We live right next door."

"You mean," Deanna started. T'Rul nodded.

"The circumstances are kind of odd, I'll admit. Technically, he's my uncle. Ael is adopted."

"I believe that we should be going now," Data said, stepping into their conversation.

They continued a rather friendly conversation as they walked outside. Several people were out and about. A centurion carrying a repair kit was fixing someone's shield generator. A dark-haired commander chatted with what seemed t be her first officer. She looked over and smiled.

"Hey!" she greeted them, walking over.

Ayani smiled, "Hi! Um, this is Commander Riker, Lieutenant Commander LaForge, Doctor Crusher, and Counselor Troi."

"Well, welcome to Romulus. I'm Commander Donatra," she said with a smile.

"Thank you, Commander," Will said. Deanna smiled.

A decurion ran up to Donatra, "Commander! Admiral Braeg has requested a report."

Teya and Ayani snickered behind their hands as Donatra replied, "Of course he has. Thank you, Orventa."

As she walked away, Orventa looked at the teens in confusion, "What are you laughing about?"

"Nothing!" Ayani said quickly. Beverly smiled and Data cocked his head to the side a bit.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

It was dark. She couldn't see anything. Her hands and feet were tied, so she struggled. It was so cold. Hands grabbed her bare upper arms. At least the basics were covered.

"Stop struggling, hevam!" a woman's voice hissed in her ear.

"I'm not hevam!" she spat back. The blindfold was pulled off and she realized she was in a small room with two other women.

One had black hair, dark eyes, and a sullen look. The other had russet-brown hair, golden-brown eyes, and an imperious air about her. Both wore only undergarments.

Miss Imperious gave her an appraising look, "Your hair and eyes are not Romulan, but the ears and temper are. You are Commander Sela."

"Well, since you know who I am, how about an introduction?" Sela snapped.

"Fine, I'm Commander M'Rue and this is my temporary science officer, Subcommander Soleta."

"I remember you. The little Vulcan science officer on _Excalibur_. Calhoun's pet," Sela mused, "And here you are."

"Indeed. Here I am. To answer your unspoken question, I am half-Romulan, like you," Soleta replied. M'Rue watched the exchange with disinterest.

"As has been made abundantly clear to me my entire life," Sela retorted scathingly. Soleta lifted an eyebrow.

"I wasn't done. I was about to say that you might have a different perspective on how to get out of here. Sooner is more preferable," Soleta replied icily.

Sela frowned, "Why? What the hell is this place?"

M'Rue was the one who replied, "Soleta believes that they're testing us for something. There was another woman here, but she was killed."

Sela controlled her external show of emotions, "I see. Well, let's get to work."


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh! I wasn't aware that the Praetor had any meetings this early in the morning!"

"Well, it appears so."

"Sorry, Captain Picard, sir. I've been away for a little bit," the young woman at the desk apologized.

"It's perfectly alright, Miss. We all make mistakes," Picard said. The woman nodded and tapped a few keys.

Two uhlans came out and led him into the Praetor's office. Hiren sat at a large desk, his grey hair disheveled and a stack of printouts in front of him. He looked up.

"Ah. Come in, Captain Picard. You'll have to excuse the mess. I've been here all night," he said.

"I completely understand, Praetor. I remember many an all-night study session," Picard replied, carefully choosing his words.

"As do I, Captain. Has Doctor Talia informed you of the situation yet?"

"Yes. She also said something about a ransom note?"

"Ah. I almost forgot about that with all of this," Hired replied, gesturing to the printouts, "We recently found a centurion dead, with a dermal chip implanted in her arm. It carried an audio file. I'll have one of my aides give a copy to you when you leave."

"My counselor has detected an underlying sense of fear and anger here. She requests your permission to talk to a few people," Picard asked.

"Of course. Romulus needs all the help it can get to fight these terrorists," Hiren said, sounding rather distracted.

Picard wondered if he had meant to say that, so asked, "How bad is it, really? I know that there have been fatalities, but I have a feeling that there's something I'm not being told."

Hiren sighed.

"It's in the ransom note," he said simply.

"Thank you for your time, Praetor. My people will do everything we can to help," Picard said.

Two different uhlans led him out and gave him a data chip. As he flagged down a civilian transport, he couldn't help but to wonder if Hiren was worried about the involvement of a government official or just plain concern about the people.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

Geordi LaForge waited next to his Romulan friend for whoever was on the shuttle.

Bochra seemed vaguely interested in Geordi's conversation about engineering tricks, but Geordi got the feeling that this was going over his head.

"You don't understand a word of what I'm saying, do you? Just an engineer's lingo that only we can understand," he said.

Bochra gave a guilty start, "Yeah. I've always been more of a tactical officer than an engineer. I guess that's why I'm in command of a ship now."

"Could be. Speaking of which, how is it?"

"Oh, it's alright. The crew still doesn't trust me. They're all convinced that I murdered their former commander to get the post. I keep telling them that I was happier as a tactical officer than as a warbird commander," Bochra said, a faint look of displeasure on his face.

"Clearly you are giving them the wrong impression. Simply tell them that you did not commit such a crime and to move on. You will find that things run much smoother on your ship."

Both men turned to see a Vulcan woman with blonde hair and blue eyes standing right behind them.

"Oh!" Bochra said, startled, "Hello, Mother. Talia's already waiting in the groundcar."

"Indeed. I have already placed my bag in the 'car. We waited for 15.6 minutes for you to arrive before I decided to seek you out myself," Admiral T'Mir Elizabeth Tucker said, admonishing her son.

"Sorry."

"Your apologies are not necessary. I can understand your delay. You were talking with a friend," T'Mir said, her facial expression never changing.

"Hello, Admiral. Imagine seeing you here," Geordi joked. Bochra stifled a laugh.

T'Mir lifted a vaguely confused eyebrow and followed the snickering pair to the groundcar.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

"I think I would rather beat my head against a wall than listen to your complete and inane rambling, Talia!"

"Oh, come on, Maya! It's not inane, it's logical!"

"Oh, Elements help me, are you turning Vulcan on me?"

"Hell no!"

Beverly listened with half an ear to the loud argument in the lab. She was sitting in the sitting room, attempting to have a conversation with Geordi, but he was suddenly focused on the front door.

T'Mir noticed his rapt attention and sighed.

"Husband, please do not chase these guests out like you did the last ones," she warned.

An answering thud sounded from the foyer. Beverly lifted an amused eyebrow at Geordi as he choked on laughter.

Captain Picard's voice sounded from the foyer, "Well hello, Commander. It's a pleasure to see you again."

The reply was curt and irritated, "I would say the same, Captain Picard, but that would imply my having knowledge of your presence in my home."

T'Mir sighed and lifted her whisk, waving it lightly at the pair in the foyer, "Manners, both of you. It would be illogical to halt the progress of relations between our peoples simply because you two cannot get along."

"If you say so," Commander Tomalak retorted acidly, striding into the kitchen.

"Good."

Picard stepped past them and sat down across from Beverly.

"Fascinating," he commented, emulating Ambassador Spock.

Geordi could no longer hold it in and his loud laughter drew the ladies up from downstairs.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

"You could have told me earlier."

"For what logical purpose?" T'Mir asked her husband as she put away the last of her luggage.

"So that I would not be surprised to see Picard walking into my house with his people," Tomalak replied, reading over some report as he sat at their desk.

"They were invited by the Praetor and we had room. Besides, I happen to have known the captain and his crew since each of them was in the Academy," she retorted.

He sighed, "How can I fault your logic, my wife?"

"You cannot," she replied sotto voce.

He laughed softly, "Perhaps I cannot. But I can flatly refuse to deal with them."

"As long as you don't cause any fights," she warned him, a tone of light humor tinging her words.

As she finished putting away her belongings, he set his tablet down and stood up.

T'Mir moved over to the window and he met her there. They said nothing more for the time being, just simply savored their time together, as it was few and far between.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

Sela carefully worked the panel out from the wall and checked on Soleta. The half-Vulcan woman was tucked into a small area, working on some sort of old gear for a comm array.

"How'd it going?" she asked, unconsciously echoing her mother.

Soleta muttered a Reman profanity.

"Not well. This equipment is so dated, Surak could have used it," she replied angrily.

M'Rue stood at the door casually, keeping an eye out for any guards who might pass by. So far, they had been left alone for a couple of days now.

That, however, could change at any second.

Idly, Sela wondered what her father was doing before quashing the errant thought.

"Guard!" M'Rue hissed, causing Soleta to scramble out of the panel, help Sela put it back, and cover herself with a blanket to hide the grime and to pretend she was asleep.

Sela lounged on her bunk and M'Rue pretended to be fascinated with her fingernails.

A large, rather bulky Romulan man stood in the doorway.

"Which of you is the half-breed?" he snapped.

Sela ignored him and whistled a tune that she had heard from somewhere once.

The words ran in her mind, 'Trouble seems to follow. I only tuned in to save rock and roll.'

"Shut up! I asked a question," the man growled.

"There are two half-breeds here," M'Rue pointed out coldly. The guard fixed an arrogant glare on her. She didn't even flinch.

"I'll take the blonde," he ordered. Sela sighed and stood.

"Why exactly am I wanted?" she asked snidely.

"Call it a test, if you will," the man told her sharply before falling silent once more.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

Commander Liviana shot straight up in her bed with a small gasp. A lone figure sat in a chair at the foot of her bed and watched her sleep.

Her hand withdrew the gun from under her pillow and pointed it at him.

"That won't be necessary, Commander," he said calmly, his features shadowed by the dark.

Clawing wild curly hair from her face, Liviana shouted, "Lights!"

The room brightened at once and she saw a human man in a nondescript black bodysuit. He didn't even blink at the sight of her admittedly illegal disruptor.

"Who are you?" she demanded, suddenly self-conscious about her attire, which was a tank top and some shorts.

"My name is Luther Sloan, Commander, and I'd like to ask you a favor," he introduced himself.

"What kind of favor?" she replied warily.

"My division would like you to perform your own investigation into the current civil unrest on Romulus. Picard and his people might miss a few things," Sloan told her.

Liviana snorted, "And why should I go all the way to Romulus and deviate from my patrol route?"

"Because your dear friend is one of the people who've been taken by the attackers."

She glared at him, not believing a word he said.

"You're Section 31, one of the people who put Senator Cretak into a dark prison cell and that bastard Koval on the Continuing Committee," she hissed, her disruptor never wavering.

"You're remarkably well informed for a simple military commander, Liviana. I hope you don't mind that I call you Liviana," Sloan said calmly.

"Go to hell," she snapped, "You're Three-One, you figure it out."

"Indeed, Liviana. Before I go, I think you would find one piece of information important. A man named Lerik."

With that final parting shot, he walked straight out of the door and disappeared in a shimmer of transporter particles.

Liviana swore fiercely and stumbled out of her bed and to the closet, pawing around for a clean uniform. She had a report to make to her mother.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

Deanna Troi busied herself in the kitchen, mixing a batch of pancakes. They were the guests here, why shouldn't they cook the breakfast like Vulcan tradition.

A startled yelp sounded from behind her and she turned to see Bochra, one hand hidden behind his back and a shocked expression on his face.

"You look like a kid who was just caught with his hand in the cookie jar," Deanna commented drily.

"I thought you were my mother," Bochra explained, his face flushing green, "She's usually up about now."

"Want to help?" Deanna asked.

Bochra nodded, "Sure."

They chatted about current political issues as they made breakfast. At one point, Beverly came into the kitchen and made some rather strong coffee she liked to call "Wake-up Call".

As the others trickled one by one into the kitchen and dining room, there were various expressions of surprise at the cooperation. T'Mir didn't even comment on the small mess on the stove where Geordi had accidentally spilled some pancake mix when he was cooking them.

Picard and Tomalak were being polite to each other, but Deanna could sense an underlying current of mistrust and wariness.

Well, at least they hadn't killed each other yet. That was a start.

**AN- Well, this is a rather interesting ending to a story, don't you think? Some foreshadowing in there, with a touch of angst and a pinch of fluff.**


End file.
